Eaves trough support



1, 1967 R. n. LANDiS 3,333fi93 EAVES THOUGH SUPPORT Filed Feb. 16, l966 24' INVENTOR.

AQfiffiT 0. 444/0/5 United States Patent 3,333,803 EAVES TRUUGH SUPPORT Robert D. Landis, 501 Thayer Ave., Ashtabula, Ohio 44004 Filed Feb. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 527,672 6 Claims. (Cl. 248-482) This invention relates to a support for an eaves trough or a downspout.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved support which facilities the attachment of an eaves trough or downspout to a building.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a support which provides a stable and rugged mounting for the eaves trough or downspout and permits the latter to be easily mounted in place on the building or removed for cleaning, repair or replacement.

Further objectives and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of two presently-preferred embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a View showing the present support in end elevation attached to a building and carrying a conventional eaves trough, shown in cross-section;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the strap member in the FIG. 1 support;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective View of the mounting bracket in the FIG. 1 support;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the mounting bracket in the present support; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 1 and showing an eaves trough support made up of the FIG. 4 mounting bracket and a strap of the type shown in FIG. 2.

Referring first to FIGS. 1-3, the building on which the eaves trough is to be mounted has an upstanding side wall and a sloping roof 11 whose lower end projects forward past this side wall. The eaves trough 12 is shown as generally semi-cylindrical in cross-section, presenting an upstanding back wall 13 and an upstanding front wall 14. While the common semi-cylindrical eaves trough is shown, it is to be understood that it may have any desired cross-sectional shape.

In accordance with this embodiment of the present invention, the support for the eaves trough includes a mounting bracket 15 (FIG. 3) to be mounted permanently on the building and an attachment member 16 (FIG. 2) for attachment permanently to the eaves trough. The mounting bracket and the attachment member are constructed and arranged in a novel manner to permit the attachment member to be removably, but snugly, mounted in place on the bracket to suspend the eaves trough from the building, as explained hereinafter.

The mounting bracket 15 has a fiat, vertical back wall 17 for engagement with the side wall 10 of the building. At its upper end the bracket presents a channel 18 joined integrally to its back wall 17 and extending downward and forward therefrom at an acute angle corresponding to the angle which the sloping roof 11 makes with respect to the side wall 10 of the building. This channel 18 snugly receives the overhanging lower end of the roof, with the lower and upper legs 18a and 18b of the channel respectively engaging the bottom and top of the roof, as shown in FIG. 1.

The mounting bracket presents a horizontal shelf 19 projecting forwardly from its back wall 17 and spaced well below its channel-shaped upper end 18. In the particular embodiment shown in FIG. 3, this shelf 19 is the lower leg of a generally L-shaped piece Whose vertical leg 20 is spot-welded at 21 to the back wall 17 of the bracket. However, it is to be understood that the shelf 19 may be connected integrally to the back wall 17 of the bracket in any desired manner. The shelf has a vertical, screw-threaded opening 22 located toward its front end.

A post 25, which is screw-threaded for part of its length, is threadedly engaged in the shelf opening 22 and extends vertically upward from the shelf. This post has a screw driver slot 26 in its upper end.

The lower end of mounting bracket 15 has an upwardly extending leg 23, which is integrally connected to the lower end of the back wall 17 and is spaced in front of the back wall to define therewith an upwardly-facing recess 24. This recess 24 is spaced below and rearwardly from the upstanding post 25.

The mounting bracket 15 has openings 27 for passing nails 28 which attach the bracket to the side wall and the roof of the building, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the attachment member 16 in the present support presents an elongated flat strut portion 30 which, as shown in FIG. 1, extends horizontally across the eaves trough near the top from back to front. The front end of this strut portion terminates in an upstanding flange 31, which is attached by rivets 32 to the inside of the front wall 14 of the eaves trough. The back end of strut portion 30 terminates in an upstanding flange 33, which is attached by rivets 34 to the inside of the back wall 13 of the eaves trough.

The attachment member 16 has, in addition to the strut portion 30 which reinforces the eaves trough, a rear portion for detachable connection to the mounting bracket. This rear portion of the attachment member includesa horizontal upper end flange 35 connected integrally to the upstanding back flange 33 on the str-ut portion and extending rearwardly therefrom and folded back on itself to provide a double thickness of the strap material overlying the shelf 19 on the mounting bracket. This upper end flange 35 has an opening 36 which snugly receives the upstanding post 25 on the mounting bracket.

The rear portion of the attachment member 16 also includes a depending wall 37 connected integrally to the lower thickness of the upper end flange 35 at the front and extending downward therefrom spaced in front of the back wall 17 of the mounting bracket 15. As shown in FIG. 1, the back wall 13 of the eaves trough is clamped by the rivets 34 between this depending wall 37 of the attachment member 16 and the upstanding back flange 33 on its strut portion. The lower end of this depending wall 37 is joined integrally to a horizontal rearwardly extending segment 38 of the attachment member. The rear portion of the attachment member 16 terminates at its lower end in a depending foot 39 joined integrally to the back end of segment 38 and extending downward therefrom snugly into the upwardly-facing recess 24 between the back wall 17 and the upwardly extending front leg 23 of the mounting bracket.

In the use of this eaves trough support, a plurality of the mounting brackets 15 are nailed to the building at spaced intervals and a plurality of the attachment member 16 are secured to the eaves trough at similar intervals. Each attachment member 16 may be mounted on the corresponding mounting brackets 15 by intersecting the depending foot 39 on the rear portion of the attachment member down into the upwardly-facing recess 24 on the mounting bracket and at the same time moving the upper end flange 35 on the rear portion of the attachment member down onto the shelf 19 on the mounting bracket, with the upstanding post 25 on the mounting bracket projectlng up through the opening 36 in the upper end flange 35. This provides a stable suspension mounting for the eaves trough because of the snug engagement of the post 25in the opening 36 and the snug engagement of the foot 39 in the recess 24.

Whenever it is desired to remove the eaves trough, such as for cleaning, repair or replacement, all that is required is to lift the eaves trough up until the opening 36 in each attachment member is clear of the post 25 on the respective mounting bracket and the depending foot 39 on each attachment member is clear of the recess 24 in the respective mounting bracket.

In the second embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the attachment member is identical to the member 16 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, but the mounting bracket is diflerent from that of FIGS. 1-3. Corresponding elements in FIGS. 4 and 5 are given the same numerals as in FIGS. 1-3, but with a prime sufilx, and the description of these elements will not be repeated.

The eaves trough support of FIGS. 4 and 5 is particularly adapted for use on a side wall of the building where the lower edge of the roof slopes along the length of this wall. The mounting bracket (FIG. 4) is nailed only to this side wall 10 and it is not attached to the roof itself. In the particular embodiment shown, the mounting bracket 15 has a flat back wall 17' with four nail holes 27', one near each corner, although a greater or smaller number may be provided, as desired.

In the mounting of the eaves trough at a side wall where the roof line slopes, successive mounting brackets 15 are to be nailed to the side wall 10 at different elevations above the foundation and each at the same distance below the sloping roof line. The eaves trough will slope along its length at substantially the same angularity as the roof.

In the installation of an eaves trough under these circumstances, the attachment members 16 are first attached to the eaves trough at appropriate locations along its length.

The upstanding post 25' on each mounting bracket 15" is initially positioned inverted, with its screw-threaded end up and the slotted end down, as shown in FIG. 5. Before the mounting bracket is nailed to the building, the corresponding attachment member 16" is assembled onto the mounting bracket, with the inverted post 25 extending up through the opening 36 and the depending foot 39' received in the upwardly-facing recess 24. (FIG. 5) is threaded onto the upper end of post 25' to temporarily hold the mounting bracket 15' and the attachment member 16' assembled together in this manner.

With at least two of the supports so assembled together temporarily on a single length of the eaves trough, the eaves trough is held up against the side wall of the building at the location where the user wants it to be finally located, sloping parallel to the roof line and at the desired distance below the roof line. The user then marks on the side wall of the building the location of at least two of the nail holes 27 in each mounting bracket, such as by pencil marks. This locates the desired final position of each mounting bracket.

After this has been done, the user may disassemble each support by removing the respective nut 40 and then removing the attachment member 16' from its mounting bracket 15, as described. Then the post 25 on each mounting bracket 15' is reversed end-to-end, so that its A nut 40,

slotted end will be up. The respective mounting brackets 15' are then nailed to the side of the building as determined by the marks for the nail holes on the side wall of the building, after which the respective attachment members 16' are mounted on these brackets in the manner already described with reference to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the specific illustrated embodiments of the present support are particularly adapted to accomplish the objectives of the present invention as it relates to supporting an eaves trough on a building. However, while two presently-preferred embodiments of this support have been shown and described, it is to be understood that various modifications, omissions and refinements differing from the particular embodiments disclosed may be adopted without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, for supporting a downspout on a building, the present support may comprise a mounting bracket as shown in FIG. 4 and an attachment member similar to that of FIG. 2, but with its strut portion 30 omitted and with its rear portion riveted or otherwise attached to the back wall of the downspout.

I claim: 7

1. A support for an eaves trough or downspout comprising:

a mounting bracket for attachment to a building, said bracket presenting an upwardly-facing recess and 7a forwardly projecting shelf above said recess, an upstanding post carried by said shelf;

and an attachment member for attachment to the eaves trough or downspout and removably mounted on the bracket, said attachment member presenting a flange overlying said shelf on the bracket, said flange having an opening which receives said upstanding post on the bracket, the rear portion of the attachment member also having a depending foot which extends down into said upwardly-facing recess on the bracket.

2. A support according to claim 1, wherein said mounting bracket has a vertical back wall for engagement with the side of a building and an upwardly-extending leg attached to said back wall below said shelf and spaced in front of said back wall to define therewith said upwardlyfacing recess, and said upstanding post is positioned above and forwardly from said upwardly-facing recess.

3. A support according to claim 2, wherein said post has a screw-threaded portion which threadedly engages said shelf and which is adapted to receive a nut overlying said flange on the attachment member to secure. the latter temporarily to the bracket before the bracket is attached permanently to the building.

4. An eaves trough support comprising:

a mounting bracket having a vertical back wall for engagement with the side of a building, said bracket having a shelf projecting forwardly from said back wall, an upstanding post carried by said shelf and spaced forwardly from said back wall, said bracket having an upwardly extending leg attached to said back wall below said shelf and spaced in front of said back wall and defining therewith an upwardlyfacing recess which is disposed below and rearwardly from said post;

and a strap removably mounted on the bracket, said strap having a strut portion adapted to extend across the eaves trough from back to front, said strut portion at its opposite ends presenting vertical back and front flanges for attachment respectively to the back and front walls of the eaves trough at the inside thereof, said strap having a rear portion including an upper end flange connected integrally to the back vertical flange on said strut portion and extending rearwardly therefrom overlying said shelf on the bracket, said upper end flange having an opening which snugly receives said upstanding post on the bracket, said strap having a depending wall which extends down from said upper end flange spaced in front of said back wall of the bracket, and a depending foot connected to said depending wall and extending down snugly into said upwardly-facing recess between said back wall and said upwardly extending leg on the bracket.

5. An eaves trough support according to claim 4 wherein the mounting bracket has a downwardly sloping, channel-shaped upper end for receiving the overhanging lower end of a sloping roof on the building.

6. An eaves trough support according to claim 4, wherein said post has a screw-threaded portion which threadedly engages said shelf and is adapted to receive a nut overlying said upper end flange on the strap to secure the strap temporarily to the mounting bracket before the latter is attached permanently to the building.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 288,793 11/ 1883 Gottschalk 248-48.1 2,271,081 1/1942 Layton 24848.2 X 3,007,662 11/1961 Featheringham 248-482 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner. R. P. SEITTER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SUPPORT FOR AN EAVES TROUGH OR DOWNSPOUT COMPRISING: A MOUNTING BRACKET FOR ATTACHMENT TO A BUILDING, SAID BRACKET PRESENTING AN UPWARDLY-FACING RECESS AND A FORWARDLY PROJECTING SHELF ABOVE SAID RECESS, AN UPSTANDING POST CARRIED BY SAID SHELF; AND AN ATTACHMENT MEMBER FOR ATTACHMENT TO THE EAVES TROUGH OR DOWNSPOUT AND REMOVABLY MOUNTED ON THE BRACKET, SAID ATTACHMENT MEMBER PRESENTING A FLANGE OVERLYING SAID SHELF ON THE BRACKET, SAID FLANGE HAVING AN OPENING WHICH RECEIVES SAID UPSTANDING POST ON THE BRACKET, THE REAR PORTION OF THE ATTACHMENT MEMBER ALSO HAVING A DEPENDING FOOT WHICH EXTENDS DOWN INTO SAID UPWARDLY-FACING RECESS ON THE BRACKET. 